Author
Topic: Gas tank rust (Read 4843 times)

LJRead

When you live in a place where the humidity is always high and night time temperatures can drop, there is bound to be condensation in the gas tank. Any tips on dealing with it to prevent rust from building up in the gas tank? Is there a good pre- treatment for a tank to prevent it in the first place?

First off, keep your tank full. Air space will allow condensation to form. In the winter I always keep my tanks full. I had a 1982 Suzuki SP500 duel sport bike for about 20 years. That tank finally rusted through and I got a plastic Clarke Mnfg tank. I had a 1984 HD Sportster that only took two years to rust through a little pinhole in its tank.

jon

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Jon in Keaau, Hawaii

Roger

You may want to consider this suggestion. What I do is put about two tablespoons (30mls) of 2 Stroke oil in the gas tank when I fill up. The small amount of oil will not affect the running of the bike and will coat the inside of the gas tank. An old guy put me on to this saying he did this to the bikes he owned way back when...

Roger

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LJRead

Thanks for the tips. Seems like a combination of keeping the tank topped off and adding a bit of oil should do the trick. Eventually I would like to have an aluminum tank, maybe the scrambler one, but too expensive for now.

LJRead

Yeah Fred, that tank sealer seems like the answer - not too expensive either. Hearing that a Harley tank got pin holes in it in less than two years gives me the clue that I'd better do something. My Toyota pickup that I brought here rusted into the ground in about five years; the body looked ok, but other things in it just gave up the ghost unexpectedly.I think it has to do with the coral dissolving in rainwater to form an acid.

LJRead

Vava'u, Tonga is in the South Pacific, 1200 miles north of New Zealand. The Toyots's front wheel suspension on one side rusted through and I had it welded up, then the oil pan started getting major rust which I didn't catch in time either. We braised all the pin holes in it. I remember one Toyota Land cruiser which was rusted throughout like swiss cheese, but, in general, most of the older vehicles here are just holding on with hanging bumpers, missing doors (hinges rusted away) and so forth. The other thing is that the mud here gets so slick that they tend to slide off the road into ditches or trees so body work suffers. Since I got rid of the truck (gave it to my brother-in-law with a strong engine) our roads are largely tar sealed so we don't get so much of the corrosive mud any longer. Relatives who own an auto shop here spray the undersides of their vehicles with used crankcase oil on a monthly basis and that helps. One thing for sure, you learn quickly not to become materialistic when it comes to cars as they just don't last long here and it would be a shame to bring in a fine automobile. I guess there is a similar problem with salted roads in the U.S.

Hello water will lay in the bottom of the tank because the gas is less dense. I use a little dry gas in my tank. If you have a tank that has a section lower than the petcock so the area never drains it will rust there. have fun, mtrude

LJRead

That's a good point, mtrude, and, infact, I've posted about four topics in this Tech Tips section and have been very pleased with the results.

Does anyone know about how the frame of recent R E's holds up? Is it powder coated and is the rust protection (paint) adequate? I'm tempted to do a complete corrosion prep on the bike, but will have to see what I can do with the materials available here. Keeping it clean and maybe some oil and WD-40 will help. When you can't afford to replace things, it seems best to take special care and effort.

I remember when a 15-20 year old car would turn to powder on your driveway if you lived in one of the salt-belt states. I think (thought) they had fixed all that now. I sold my 12 year old Chevy last year and there were only small areas of surface rust here and there. Mind you with half the car being plastic these days probably helps to. To be honest I would think climates like yours with high humidity and salty sea air would be far more destructive than a few months of salt on the road every year (as evidenced by your Toyota turning to Swiss cheese).

After hearing that story and seeing that bikes in general seem to suffer worse corrosion than cars in, I would say you spend the time corrosion proofing the frame the best you can. My frame has chips of paint missing or scratches. If the elements get a hold of that, you'd have rust forming in no time I would guess.

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2007 Military. It needs some company now the Suzuki has left the stable..........

Roger

I have not noticed any two stroke smell coming from my bike when using the small amount of oil in the fuel, actually the bike doesn’t really have a smell unlike the WLA Harley I had back in the 70s. It always smelt of hot oil.